Tips & Tricks: Creating an Object Library

Every organization has images and verbiage that they rely on repeatedly to create printed material. For these recurring items, InDesign has created a handy tool called the Object Library. The Object Library works like a panel in InDesign and allows you to store frequently used items in one convenient location.

To begin creating your Object Library, open a document that contains material you would like to store in the Object Library (a company brochure or recently completed proposal works well). From the File menu, select New>Library. You can name the library whatever you choose (and you can have multiple libraries for different uses). Using the Selection tool, simply drag a page item from the document and drop it into the Library panel. You can store images and text in the library. You can also specify the name and description of the items, if desired. To ensure that the library opens each time you launch InDesign, save your workspace under Window>Save Workspace. If you prefer to launch the library only at certain times, you can choose File>Open and simply open the library from the location you saved it.

Katie Harris, LEED AP
Encotech Engineering Consultants